understanding and knowledge
The course aims at assessing European shared values and fundamental rights and their implementation, focusing on the relationships between national and supranational institutions (Parliaments and Courts, above all).
Application of gained knowledge
The course aims at providing students with those skills that allow them to assess the European integration process in the light of the traditional interpretative categories of constitutional law. With this purpose, the course consists of lectures and seminars in which students will be actively involved. They will be guided in finding and analyzing laws and case-law (also using internet websites and open data) useful to be adopted as further didactic materials, integrating text books. They also might be required to write brief essays and/or give short presentations on the main topics of the course.
The course consists of lectures and seminars in which students will be actively involved. They might be requested to read in advance laws and cases in order to discuss them in class. They also might be required to write brief essays and/or to give short presentations on the course's main topics. During the Academic Year 2019-20, Prof. Otto Pfersmann will contribute to the course, delivering a series of lectures as Visiting Professor at the University of Catania.
Basic knowledge both of Constitutional law and of EU law are requested.
Not mandatory, but highly recommended.
Teaching plan: 21 classes scheduled of 2 hours each.
The course aims at analysing the ongoing process of establishing new structures of government, complementary to and built upon existing forms of peoples’ or societies’ public organizations, based on the main principles of constitutionalism. In the main framework of the so-called "european federalizing process", the current concepts of democracy, rule of law and human rights' protection will be assessed, focusing on issues related to their spreading and implementation, mostly in the light of the relationships between national and supranational institutions (Parliaments and Courts, above all).
ATTENDING STUDENTS will be provided with didactic materials during the course both in classroom and via the "Studium" platform.
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS are required to refer to the following texts:
1. N. LUPO- G. PICCIRILLI (eds.), The italian Parliament in the European Union, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017: pages 1-18; 159-178; 317-333; 335-347.
2. R. SCHUTZE, European Constitutional Law, Cambridge University Press, 2016: pages 43-73; 147-163; 253-262; 429-468.
3. U. LIEBERT - A. JENICHEN (eds.), Europeanisation and Renationalisation, Barbara Budrich Publisher, 2019, pages 199-214; 231-294.
OTHER SUGGESTED READINGS:
Paper 1, M. ZURN, The State in the Post-national Constellation. Societal Denationalization and Multi-level Governance, in: ARENA Workin Papers, 35/1999.
Paper 2., I. PERNICE, Multilevel Constitutionalism in the European Union, in: WHI-Paper, 05/2002.
Paper 3, I. PERNICE, Multilevel Constitutionalism and the Crisis of Democracy in Europe, in: European Constitutional Law Review, 2015.
Paper 4, R. BIFULCO, Europe and Constitutional pluralism:prospects and limitations, in: The Italian Journal of Public Law, 2/2018, pages 167-185.
Paper 5, N. LUPO, The advantage of having the "First Word" in the Composite European Constitution, in: The Italian Journal of Public Law, 2/2018, pages 186-204.
Paper 6, A. CIANCIO, "Dura lex, sed lex": yes or no?, in: dirittifondamentali.it, 01/2019.
Paper 7, A. CIANCIO, A new uniform electoral procedure to re-legitimate the process of political integration in Europe, in: federalismi.it, 2/2015.
Paper 8, A. VON BOGDANDY, The European Union as a Supranational Federation: A Conceptual Attempt in the Light of the Amsterdam Treaty, in : The Columbia Journal of European Law, 2000, n° 6, p. 27).
Paper 9., G. DELLA CANANEA, “Is European Constitutionalism Really “Multilevel”?”, in: Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht. Heidelberg Journal of International Law ( HJIL ) 70 (2010), 283-317.
Paper 10, M. POIARES MADURO, Three Claims of Constitutional Pluralism, in : Avbelj, Jan Komárek (eds), Constitutional Pluralism in the European Union and Beyond, Hart Publishing, Oxford, 67-84. Draft, accessible under https://cosmopolis.wzb.eu/content/programs/conkey_Maduro_Three-Claims-of-Pluralism.pdf
Paper 11, K. LENAERTS, Constitutionalism and the Many Faces of Federalism, in: The American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 38, 2/1990, pp. 205-263.
Paper 12, K. MILEWICZ, Emerging Patterns of Global Constitutionalization: Toward a Conceptual Framework, in: Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Vol. 16, No. 2, (Summer 2009), pp. 413-436
Paper 13, S. PICIOTTO, Constitutionalizing multilevel governance?, in: I•CON, Volume 6, Number 3 & 4, 2008, pp. 457–479 (doi:10.1093/icon/mon017)
Paper 14, A. VINCZE, What Role For Constitutional Courts In A Multi-Level Constitutionalism?, in: Annales of Etvös Lorand Faculty of Law 2012, accessible under: http://www.ajk.elte.hu/file/annales_2012_03_Vincze.pdf.
Paper 15, I. PERNICE, The Treaty of Lisbon: Multilevel Constitutionalism in Action, in: The Columbia Journal of European Law (CJEL), V 15/no 3, pp. 349-407.
Paper 16, N. WALKER, The idea of Constitutional Pluralism, in The Modern Law Review, vol. 65, 3/2002, pp. 317-359.
Paper 17, I. Ward, “The End of Sovereignty and the New Humanism”, in: Stanford Law Review, Vol. 55, 5/2003, pp. 2091-2112.
Paper 18, A. Wiener, A. F. Lang jr., James Tully, M. Poiares Maduro, M. Kumm, “Editorial. Global constitutionalism: Human rights, democracy and the rule of law”, in: Global Constitutionalism, 2012, 1:1, 1– 15.
Paper 19, A. Stone Sweet, “A cosmopolitan legal order: Constitutional pluralism and rights adjudication in Europe” Global Constitutionalism, 2012, 1:1, pp. 53– 90.
Paper 20, A. M. Guerra Martins, “Opinion 2/13 of the Court of Justice in the Context of Multilevel Protection of Fundamental Rights and Multilevel Constitutionalism”, in: Zeitschrift für öffentliches Recht, 2016, pp. 27-57.
Further didactic material might be provided during the course via the "Studium" platform.
Argomenti | Riferimenti testi | |
1 | Introductory lecture. Multilevel constitutionalism: concept and methodological premise | Paper 1 and Paper 2 |
2 | Discussion about constitutional pluralism theories | Paper 4 + Paper 10 + Paper 16 |
3 | Constitutionalism and multilevel governance | Paper 12 + Paper 13 |
4 | Constitutional homogeneity and the european federalizing process | Textbook 2, pages 43-75 + Paper 8 and Paper 11 |
5 | Constitutional homogeneity process and the Courts' role | Paper 5 + Paper 14 |
6 | Discussion about the idea of ''European Constitution'' | Textbook 1, pages 317-333 + Paper 9 and Paper 15 |
7 | The rule of law in a multilevel perspective: separation of powers vs complimentary of functions | Textbook 2, pages 147-153 |
8 | Which is the main rule of the rule of law? Discussion about the rule of law in a system of human rights' globalized protection | Paper 6 |
9 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems. | Paper 17 |
10 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems | Paper 18 |
11 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems | Paper 19 |
12 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems | Paper 20 |
13 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems. | Didactic material will be provided by Prof. Pfersmann during the course via the platform "Studium" |
14 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems | Didactic material will be provided by Prof. Pfersmann during the course via the platform "Studium" |
15 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems | Didactic material will be provided by Prof. Pfersmann during the course via the platform Studium |
16 | Human rights in coordinated and competing legal systems. | Didactic material will be provided by Prof. Pfersmann during the course via the platform "Studium" |
17 | The power-legitimacy disconnect and the limits of the EU democracy | Textbook 1, pages 335 - 347 + Paper 3 |
18 | Issues of political representation in the EU | Textbook 3, pages 281-294 + Paper 7 |
19 | Issues of interparliamentary cooperation | Textbook 1, pages 1-18; 159-178 |
20 | Lobbying activicty in democratic decision-making processes: issues of multilevel regulation | Textbook 3, pages 265-280. |
21 | Monetary sovereignty and issues of democratic legitimacy | Textbook 3, pages 199-214+ pages 231-263 |
Written assignment: Students will be requested to write a brief essay
The essay will be about one of the topics previously assessed and discussed during the course